History

History

Central Florida Pharmacy Council

The Central Florida Pharmacy Council (CFPC) is a professional volunteer community 501 (c) 3 organization. Founded in 1996, the mission of the CFPC is to improve the health and wellness of African Americans and minorities through the presentation and development of culturally appropriate health education programs. The purpose of CFPC’s community health education programs are to improve the health status and empower African Americans and minorities to take a proactive approach in the management of their health. In 1997, CFPC sponsored its First Annual African American Men’s Health Summit in Orlando Florida. Each year the attendance and participation at this event has increased. Over the past eighteen years there has been a total attendance 45,000 men participating in this life saving event. There is no cost for the participants to attend the Summit’s health education program and health screenings.

Recognizing that health behaviors develop prior to becoming an adult, CFPC presented The Crossing Bridges: Hip Hop Teen Health Summits in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013. Crossing Bridges has been attended by 1,500 teenage African American, Haitian, Spanish, boys between the ages of 12-18. This program addresses relevant health issues empowering teen boys to take control of their health.

Understanding the role and the influence that African American women have as “health gate keepers”, CFPC developed a prostate cancer awareness program “What Every Black Women Should Know About The Men In Their Life”. This program has been presented to more than 4,000 African American women. As another opportunity to promote health awareness CFPC developed and created Father Day cards that are sent out to African American men, a health message note is enclosed in each card.

Recognizing, a need for Hispanic Spanish and Haitian Creole speaking men to participate in the Summit, CFPC partnered with The Hispanic Health Initiative and The Center for Multicultural Wellness to provide translation and interpretation services for Spanish and Creole speaking men. The Summit also provides a deaf interpreter to sign for the hearing impaired.

This year the Black Men’s Health Summit is going “ GREEN” with a live interactive health education webcast. The Health E- Summit will provide the same life-saving information and access to services that are provided annually at the Summit held at the convention center.

The Black Men’s Health & Wellness Expos has been endorsed and supported through collaborative relationships with numerous organizations whose members have participated as hosts, guest speakers, committee chairs and other related duties. Men that participate in the Health E –Summit will be provided a voucher to participate in a “Free” health screening on July 18th. After the broadcast, participants will have the opportunity to ask doctors health questions through email, text or telephone. The Black Men’s Health E-Summit is a history making project: the first of its kind!